


Summer Reading List

by Luces



Category: South Park
Genre: M/M, Reading, Summer Vacation, Surprise Kissing, mild pining, sp k2 week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 01:21:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15522951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luces/pseuds/Luces
Summary: Kyle is spending all of his time at home this summer vacation, working on his summer reading list. Kenny is having none of it.For K2 week on tumblr. Theme is for Day 4: Reading





	Summer Reading List

**Author's Note:**

> Not my best. Please pardon the flimsy plot, poor characterization, and random details from a classic novel from 1928. Hopefully it's cute enough to ignore everything wrong with it. >.<

Kenny lied on his bed, staring at his phone. He'd been debating internally whether or not he should send a text to the guys asking them out to the movies. He didn't really care if the movie was any good. He really only wanted to go for the air conditioning. It was hot as Hell. No, scratch that. Kenny had been to Hell before, and honestly, Hell would be preferable to this. He sighed and finally gave in.

_Kenny: Hey hombres, wanna come with me to the movies to watch some jacked action star punch dudes and blow shit up? [02:14pm]_

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait very long for the three dots to appear.

_Stan: Yeah dude! I'm bored already and school's only been out a week. [02:15p]_

_Cartman: Yeah sure whatever, Kenny. My mom is already pissing me off, so I'll go, but I'm not paying for your food stamp-needing ass. [02:17pm]_

Kenny rolled his eyes. He still wasn't sure why they continued to hang out with Cartman. Habit, he supposed. He waited five more minutes for Kyle's response, then called him directly.

"Hello?" Kyle answered.

"Hey sexy. You up?" Kenny purred.

"Sorry Kenny, you called me instead of one of your girlfriends. See ya."

"Wait!" Kenny frantically yelled into the receiver.

Kyle let out an irritate grunt and put his phone to his ear once more. "What is it?"

"I called you on purpose. You weren't responding to our group text."

"Why'd you answer your phone like that then?"

"I dunno. I thought it would be funny. Anyway, do you want to go to the movies with us?"

"Yeah. It's probably time about time I took a break anyway. I'll meet you guys there in fifteen."

Kyle hung up before Kenny could ask him what he was taking a break from. Not that it was especially important. Kenny was just nosey. He sent the other two a message relaying the information from Kyle, then threw on some shoes and headed out.

* * *

"That movie was based on real events, you know."

"You're full of shit, fat ass," Kyle shot back. Stan and Kenny snickered behind him.

"No really! That whole movie totally happened!" Cartman continued to insist.

"Really. Nazi squid aliens really attacked New York City, but were defeated by sixty year old former pro wrestlers?" Kyle folded his arms and crooked his eyebrow at Cartman.

"Oh yeah? Well, screw you hippie!"

"Hey," Stan interrupted, breaking the tension. "You guys wanna hit up Shakey's?"

Cartman's eyes lit up.

"Nah dude, I only had enough money for the movie," said Kenny.

Kyle shook his head. "I'm out, too. I have stuff I need to finish at home."

Stan looked disappointed, but Cartman beamed.

"More pizza for me," he declared.

He and Stan left in the direction of the restaurant. Kenny turned toward Kyle and smiled.

"Wanna walk home together?"

"Sure, dude," Kyle replied.

"So what exactly is this 'stuff' that you need to do at home. Are your parents making you do chores all summer or some shit?"

"No, nothing like that. I need to keep up on my summer reading list."

There was a moment of silence between the two teens as they continued to walk. Kenny stared at his friend with an incredulous look on his face. Kyle didn't seem to notice.

"Are you shitting me? Dude. It's summer vacation! I know you're mister brainiac studypants, but come on!"

"I know it's summer vacation. Did we not just go see a stupid expensive blockbuster starring CGI and explosions?"

"One fun thing doesn't count. Remember what we would say back in elementary school. We had to have as much fun as possible. Fuck, you even used to do the math on how many hours of fun we could have in a day after sleeping and eating. Now look at you!"

Kenny threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

"It's not like I want to spend every waking moment working on this," said Kyle.

Kyle turned to his side to find Kenny staring at him, his eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"Don't get me wrong, I love reading, but I would very much rather spend time with you guys. I'm only trying to be so diligent about this because it's for AP Literature next year, and I hear the teacher is a real ball buster if you don't get your stuff done on time. I don't want to show up on the first day and not be prepared."

"Damn. If the class is going to be that miserable all year, why take it?"

"It's AP Lit, dude. It'll look good on college transcripts and help me get into a good school. That's important to me."

Kenny grunted. "To each their own, I guess. Books 'n' reading and shit were never really my thing."

"School and studying has never been your thing, in general," Kyle laughed.

"You are correct, sir," Kenny laughed in return.

"Right now, I'm on _Pride and Prejudice_. It's pretty good. Slow in some parts and the writing style can be difficult, but I feel a sense of fulfillment when I finish a chapter."

"Oh yeah, I heard of that. Tried watching the movie version once. The one with that Kiera chick, cause she's hot. Only lasted, like, fifteen minutes. Couldn't get through the fancy dialogue."

"Oh dude, let me tell you about it. In modern language."

Kyle began to ramble on about the story, at least up to where he had read so far. Kenny watched as his friend lit up, animatedly moving his hands in the air as he spoke. By the time they reach Kyle's house, Kenny knew more about the plot than he ever had. Kyle seemed disappointed that they'd arrived. Kenny smiled. He might not understand Kyle's love of books, especially old ones, but he was glad that it made him so excited.

Kenny waved to Kyle as he disappeared into his house. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts and continued on. After a moment, he paused and looked at the house behind him. He wondered if he was really going to see Kyle at all this summer.

* * *

It turns out that Kenny didn't have to wait very long to get his answer.

It was only about a week later that he found himself alone at night and bored out of his mind. His parents were out doing god knows what, and Karen was off at a sleepover with her friends. He was jealous of his sister, honestly. He missed the sleepovers that his friends used to have. Man, they got into a lot of shenanigans at those, didn't they? Kenny took a long drag on his joint while he reminisced for a while.

But eventually that got old, too. Kenny sighed as he finished his joint. He decided to go for a walk in the hope that he'd find something or someone to do that night. As soon as he reached Kyle's house, he grinned. That nerd was probably in his room reading again.

He snuck around to the side of the house and saw that not only was the light on in Kyle's room, but his window was open. Kenny eyed the large tree that was conveniently placed within jumping distance. When Kenny was sober, climbing that tree would've been quick and easy. However with his balance and agility impaired, it was quite the task. He luckily made the jump onto the windowsill on the first attempt.

Kenny was surprised when Kyle didn't turn around. Upon further inspection, he noticed that Kyle was hearing headphones. Kenny chuckled to himself. Knowing Kyle, he probably wasn't actually listening to anything. He was probably wearing the headphones so that he could cancel out any ambient noise while he was reading.

Kenny walked up next to Kyle and crouched down. "Whatcha readin'?"

Kyle caught a glimpse of Kenny out of the corner of his eye and he startled, almost falling out of his chair.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Ken!" he exclaimed. He pulled his headphones off and turned to his friend. "Where the fuck did you come from? How did you get into my room?"

"Window," Kenny replied, like it was an everyday thing.

"Dude! That's dangerous! You could've hurt yourself!"

Kyle looked closely at Kenny, squinting his eyes.

"…Are you high?"

"L'il bit," Kenny said, grinning.

Kyle rolled his eyes.

"Alright, whatever. Why are you here, though?" he asked.

"What? I can't come visit my friend?" Kenny flopped down onto Kyle's bed.

"At eleven at night, without warning, while coming in through a second story window."

"And while high!" Kenny added, holding his finger up in the air, triumphantly.

He rolled onto his side and propped his head up on his arm.

"If you really wanna know, I was feeling bored, your light was on, and your window was open. I figured you'd have read more of your summer book club or whatever, so I thought I'd stop by and get the update on what you've read."

Kyle was speechless for a moment.

"Are you actually interested in that? I thought I was annoying you with it the other day," he said.

"Nah man, it was cool. It's nice to see you excited about things. It's pretty entertaining, to tell you the truth. It's like…watching a word movie as performed by my favorite freckly friend."

"…Right. Uh, okay then. Do you want to hear about how _Pride and Prejudice_ ends, or do you want to hear about the play I just started a few days ago? It's _King Lear_ , and it's all kinds of fucked up."

"Ooh! The fucked up one, please!" Kenny grinned.

Kyle smiled back at him and began to explain the characters and the basic premise of the plot. Kenny relaxed on Kyle's bed and drank in the sound of Kyle's voice as he went on about the madness of King Lear and how despicable his eldest two daughters were. Kenny had never heard a lick of Shakespeare in his life, nor did he really care to, but the stories seemed to come to life when Kyle told them. Kenny couldn't tell if it was the sound of Kyle's voice, the energy behind the words, or the weed that made him feel this way.

An hour had gone by before they knew it.

"Ah shit, look at the time.

Kenny rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms above his head, arching his back against the bed. Kyle couldn't help but note that he looked a bit like a sleepy cat, and he chuckled to himself.

"Are you okay to get home on your own?" Kyle asked.

"I made it here fine on my own. I think I'll be alright." He headed toward the open window. "I'll see myself out the way I came in. I don't want to go waking your parents. Even though it'd be pretty interesting to see what you come up with for an explanation of why a guy snuck into your room in the middle of the night."

Kenny looked over his shoulder and winked at Kyle. Kyle scrunched up his nose. Kenny figured it did it to try to hide the blush that was forming over the bridge. It didn't work, but it was cute that he tried.

He hopped up onto the ledge and turned around.

"So, uh...this time next week?" he asked.

Kyle looked pleasantly surprised. "Yeah, sure, if you wanna. Should I keep the window open for you then?"

"You know me so well," Kenny grinned before he climbed down out of sight.

* * *

Kenny continued to sneak in through Kyle's open window week after week. It ended up being what Kenny looked forward to most the entire summer. This thought frightened him, since his usual summer activities were much more centered around physical enjoyment. It wasn't like he hadn't partaken in those, too, this summer, but even while partying or spending time in someone's bed, Kyle was still on his mind.

Most nights, as he lie in bed wishing for sleep to come, he thought of Kyle. The way his voice went up in pitch when he was excited. The way his eyes lit up when he got to a good part of the story. The way the summer humidity made his curls turn into a mound of frizz. Kenny began to wonder if he was actually interested in the stories being told, or if his itch to return to the open window was more for the storyteller himself.

He shrugged it off as just wanting to spend time with his studious friend. It was too much hassle to complicate a good thing with the thought of it being anything more. Still, there was this small nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that he just couldn't shake.

* * *

"So…I start the last book on the list tomorrow," said Kyle.

He sat in his desk chair, slowly spinning around. He stopped and faced Kenny. A small smile graced his mouth.

"Thanks," he added.

Kenny sat up in Kyle's bed and threw his legs over the side. He cocked his head to the side and laughed.

"For what, dude? Sneaking in through your bedroom window late at night, sometimes drunk, sometimes high, and always eating most of your pizza?"

"I bought that pizza for both of us. It's not like you were stealing it."

Kyle shook his head.

"I mean thank you for hanging out with me this summer. I wasn't able to go out much, cause these books are pretty challenging, and the few times I did have free, everyone else had already made other plans. It sucks being an unreliable friend, you know?"

Kyle was smiling, but Kenny caught a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"But that's fine, right?" Kyle continued. "It's better than I work hard now so that I can get into a good college and get a well-paying career. This missed summer will all be worth it once I'm surrounded by other smart people in the academia world. Yeah. It'll be worth it."

"I guess…" Kenny shrugged.

"Anyway! Enough of that! Let me tell you about this last book. You'll love this one, Kenny. I'm honestly shocked that they're even letting us read this one. It's called  _Lady Chatterley's Lover_  and it was banned until 1960 because of it's detailed sex scenes."

Kenny's ears perked up.

"Sex scenes, you say?" he waggled his eyebrows at Kyle, who laughed in return.

"I had a feeling that would get your attention back. I don't know much more about it, but I should have quite the story for you next week," Kyle smirked.

Kenny held his breath for a moment when he saw Kyle's devilish grin. That small nagging in his stomach became a full on ache that he could no longer ignore.

Fuck.

* * *

"Well hey there, Ken! Fancy seeing you here in the library!"

Kenny almost had to squint his eyes at the bright ball of sunshine that was Butters. With him volunteering there, the library could probably save some money on their electric bill. The young man had been sorting through the returns when he had caught glimpse of Kenny.

"Hey, Leo." Kenny leaned forward over the front desk and lowered his voice like he had a secret. "Uh, could you help me…uh…find a book?"

Butters blinked at him a few times. Of all the people he ever expected to see in the library, Kenny was at the bottom of the list. Now not only was his physically in the building, but he was asking to check out a book. Butters supposed there was a first time for everything.

"Well sure! What are you looking for?"

_"Lady Chatterley's Lover_." Kenny mumbled.

Butters blinked in silence once more.

"Really?"

Kenny felt his face flushing and it frustrated him.

"Yeah. It's…uh…it's just that I've seen so much porn that I've kind of become…desensitized and, uh, I've been wondering if old-timey erotica might…help."

Butters wanted to raise his eyebrow in disbelief, but he could feel how uncomfortable Kenny was and he didn't want to upset his friend by prying any further.

"Okay then! Follow me!"

* * *

When Kenny arrived at the house on the final night, Kyle was leaning out of the window, waiting for him.

"You're late," Kyle playfully scolded from above.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Kenny replied.

"The pizza's getting cold."

"Good," Kenny smiled. "It tastes best that way."

Once Kenny made it safely into the room, he grabbed a slice and sat on Kyle's bed, as he always did. Kyle began to explain the characters that would appear in the story, as he always did. Kenny sighed and lied down onto the bed, melting into Kyle's words and mannerisms, as he always did.

Kenny stared up at the ceiling for a while. He had a lot on his mind, and he had a lot to say to Kyle. He just wasn't quite sure when to say it. Tact and timing was never really his strong suit.

But just going for it was.

"So then Connie and Mellors have sex a few times in his hut in the woods, but she's not really into it, you know? Like she just kind of lies there while he does his thing," Kyle said.

"Yeah, until a while later when he fucks her on the ground and she comes with him. I've never actually fucked in the forest before, but clearly pine needles in your crack doesn't both Connie."

Kenny continued to stare at the ceiling. Kyle stopped speaking, his mouth agape.

"It was pretty shitty, though, that he has sex with her all these times at the beginning, but she never actually consents to it. He just kinda climbs on her and she's all like, I guess I won't do anything and let it happen. I mean, maybe it's because she feels so numb in her life and that she just doesn't care anymore."

Kenny turned his head to look at Kyle.

"You're awfully quiet," he said.

"I…uh…you read the book?" Kyle asked.

"Li'l bit," Kenny laughed. "You caught my interest when you told me it had sex in it. Wasn't too bad for something written before the internet."

He sat up on the edge of the bed, ready to get serious.

"You know, as I was reading it, I felt bad for Connie," Kenny began.

"Really? Why is that?"

"Well…she got married at such a young age, but the dude she married - Clifford, right? - like, a month later, got paralyzed in the war and his dick didn't work anymore."

Kyle snorted and crossed his arms. It felt strange to be discussing a book with Kenny McCormick, of all people.

"Like, that  _sucks_  so early in a marriage. And then Clifford just disappears into his books and his writing and his fancy smart people parties. It just leaves Connie feeling…empty. Even though Mellors is kinda shady and shit in the beginning, I really was happy for Connie when she began to, you know,  _feel something_  again."

Kenny paused to scan Kyle's face. His red frizz gently swayed from the fan in the room, and his soft pink lips formed a smile. Kenny continued.

"And at a certain point, I realized that Clifford kind of reminded me of you, dude."

Kyle quirked an eyebrow at Kenny. "How do you mean?"

"Well…dude, you've kinda been a Clifford all summer. You've holed yourself up in your room with your intellectualism and shit, wasting away your youth. Like, this was probably the last real summer that we were all going to get together. Next year, Stan will end up going off to a college football camp. Cartman will probably be in the process of forming some start-up company. You'll probably have an internship, and me…well I have no fucking clue what I'll be doing, but it'll probably be working for minimum wage. I know you were doing this because of school, but…Kyle, it's like you've become impotent of fun, and I can't have that."

Kyle laughed and shook his head. "I suppose that's one way you can look at it."

"I don't want you to become a Clifford, man. You're going to have all the time in the world to be a boring ass smartypants adult later. I want you to be a Connie. I want you to get out there and fucking enjoy the passions of life! Like summer vacation! Like hanging out with your best friends!"

Kenny was so rapt in his listing that he didn't seem to notice Kyle stand up from his chair. He didn't even seem to notice that Kyle was moving toward him.

"Like sleepovers where we get fucking stupid! Like skinny dipping in Stark's Pond! Like kissing a stranger! Like-!"

Kyle bent down and took Kenny's face into his hands, smiling before he leaned in to kiss Kenny gently on the mouth. When Kyle broke away and stood back up, Kenny looked up at him with a blank face.

"You're not a stranger, but do you think it's a start?"

Kenny finally found his voice again. "So…you knew?"

"I couldn't be completely certain, but I figured the only reason that you'd keep coming by to listen to me yammer on about classic literature was because you weren't coming by for the classic literature."

Kyle sat down next to Kenny and moved in close.

"But when you said that you read the book this week…well that was enough proof for me to want to try to kiss you."

Kyle leaned in once more, placing one hand on Kenny's thigh and one on the bed. Kenny reciprocated this time, his mouth opening and gently sucking on Kyle's bottom lip.

"Plus, you seemed very concerned about my potential impotence a moment ago," Kyle added once they had pulled away.

"You mean that's not a normal thing between bros?" Kenny asked, feigning ignorance.

Kyle playfully pushed Kenny, who in turn pushed Kyle back onto his bed.

"We have two weeks of vacation left. Wanna make the most of it?" he asked.

Kyle wrapped his arms around Kenny's neck and pulled him into another kiss. Kyle still stayed up in his room for the remainder of summer vacation, but this time, he wasn't alone.


End file.
